The BadExpensive, especially considering its lack of HD Radio and satellite radio support; remote and front panel controls could be more intuitively arranged; iPod dock is a separate module, not integrated into the main unit.

The Bottom LineThe inclusion of a CD player makes the Cambridge SoundWorks Radio CD 745i easier to recommend than its discless step-down model.

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The realm of high-end tabletop radios once seemed to be the sole domain of Bose. In the past few years, however, the market has been crowded with competitors including Tivoli Audio, Polk Audio, and Boston Acoustics, not to mention upstarts such as Chestnut Hill Sound. Two of our favorites were from Cambridge SoundWorks--the company's Radio 730 and Radio CD 740 delivered some of the best sound quality we'd heard from a tabletop radio. Since the debut of those two Cambridge models, however, the need for iPod integration has become an even more critical feature for lifestyle-friendly audio products. So the company has added an iPod dock to both models, and updated the model numbers accordingly. Enter the Cambridge SoundWorks Radio 735i ($199) and the Radio CD 745i (which adds CD playback for an additional $50).

Like most of the products in the rarefied tabletop radio world, the Radio CD 745i is pretty straightforward: it's an AM/FM radio and CD player with a dual-alarm clock radio and an outboard iPod dock thrown in to boot. Aside from the iPod dock, the Radio 745i is basically a dead ringer for its predecessor, the Radio CD 740. Like that venerable model, the 745i is available in white or black and measures out at 5x14x10 inches--so make sure your nightstand or bedside table has enough real estate. It tips the scales at a hefty 11 pounds, but we're not complaining--it's a tabletop radio, not a portable you'll be moving from room to room.

Except for the Snooze/Mute button on the otherwise bare topside, all of the Radio CD 745i's controls are located on its front face. A 32-character LCD readout sits above two clusters of eight buttons each, separated by a jog dial that's 1 inch in diameter. The display is linked to a light sensor, so it dims in dark rooms. The jog dial controls volume by default, but clicking the nearby Jog key toggles it to a variety of other functions, including Bass, Treble, and Loudness. The knob offers much more visceral control than a pair of up/down keys, but the rest of the controls aren't nearly as pleasing: the tiny circular buttons are identically sized and shaped, so they're hard to distinguish in low light or when you're groggy--not good for a radio that boasts alarm clock functionality. It's the same problem we had with the more downscale Lasonic MSU-2020--but the 745i's better-known brand doesn't make the poorly arrayed controls any more palatable.

The jog dial is easy to use, but we would've preferred additional knobs to the array of identical front-panel buttons.

The 745i crams a 2.1-speaker array into its comparatively tiny frame--two front drivers, and a downward-firing woofer for added bass. The speakers are magnetically shielded, so they can be placed near a TV or any other sensitive device with impunity. Using the jog dial, the audio output can be set to Stereo, Mono, or "Wide," which attempts to simulate stereo separation beyond the seven inches or so of space between the front speakers.

The left set of buttons are the radio presets--just depress one of them while on the station of your choice, and it's saved to one of the three "bands" (FM1, FM2, or AM). The right set of buttons offers a choice of source (AM, FM, iPod, CD, or front auxiliary), as well as up/down radio tuning; there's a Seek function for jumping from station to station as well. The Cambridge tuner supports RDS (Radio Data Service), so the readout offers call-letter and song information from stations that support it. (The display can be set to display the text as static or scrolling, or can be turned off altogether.)

Alarm functionality isn't usually notable, but the Cambridge 745i offers some subtle flexibility that's worthy of its luxurious price tag. Each of the two alarms can be set to wake to an alarm tone or to any one of the AM/FM radio presets (but you can't wake to the iPod). But this is one of the few alarm systems we've seen that also lets you lock in the volume setting of each alarm, so it can be as loud or subtle as you like in the morning, regardless of what the volume level was when you turned it off. So, you can have your iPod lull you to sleep with the volume set to 3 (the sleep timer can be set at intervals from 15 to 120 minutes), but be guaranteed to be awakened at a dream-ending 15. Snooze, meanwhile, can be preset to intervals of 5 to 22 minutes, depending on your personal level of morning procrastination. A standard 9-volt battery (inserted on the underside) sustains the clock, the alarm, and the radio presets during power disruptions of as long as 48 hours--we unplugged the 745i for 30 minutes without losing a thing.

If you have the iPod dock attached, you can still attach a second device to the front-panel auxiliary input.

If you're looking to pull in some distant radio stations, you can attach the included external AM (1/8-inch) and FM (RF screw-type) antennas to the rear panel, or fashion your own to boost the signals. The two-jack connector for the iPod dock is also nearby--one for power, one for audio. What's nice is that the iPod dock audio connector is a standard 1/8-inch stereo jack, so it will work with any audio source that has a headphone jack or a line output--a satellite radio or a computer, say--so long as you provide your own matching patch cable.

John P. Falcone is the executive editor of CNET Reviews, where he coordinates a group of more than 20 editors and writers based in New York and San Francisco as they cover the latest and greatest products in consumer technology. He's been a CNET editor since 2003.
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